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Pulmonary Research Registry (PURR) at the FIRH

Project 1

Cat allergy is one of the commonest allergic sensitizations and is strongly associated with asthma. Children sensitized to cats are more likely to develop severe asthma than those sensitized to other allergens. Current treatment options for allergy to cats are largely symptomatic. However, allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT)
is available for desensitization to cats and has been demonstrated to be clinically effective in both allergic rhinitis and asthma.

Objective:

To understand how peptide immunotherapy, using validated T cell epitopes of a major allergen (Fel d 1), modulates the frequency and functional phenotype of Fel d 1-specific T cells using unique MHC

Project 2

Asthma, a disease/syndrome which affects up to 10% of the population of the United States, is identified by characteristic symptoms (such as periodic wheeze, shortness of breath etc) and by the physiological abnormalities of reversible airway obstruction and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) to a variety of inhaled bronchoconstrictor stimuli. Asthma is also recognized as an inflammatory disease of the airways, with reversible airflow obstruction and AHR being physiological manifestations of either the cellular inflammation and/or the structural consequences of the inflammation.

Objective:

Our goal is to enumerate, functionally phenotype and track allergen-specific T cells in the peripheral blood, bone marrow and airways following allergen challenge, and to further understand the contribution of these allergen-specific T-cells in the initiation and maintenance of allergen-induced airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness.